I've had this a couple of times over the last decade or so--from running though, not from kiteboarding (which I have only been doing less than a year).

If you take care of this, my guess is it won't matter which board you use and you can get back to 100% performance and no more pain pretty quickly. How do you take care of it, you ask? If you have physical therapy coverage in your heath care plan, I would highly recommend seeing a good PT. They will get you on a stretching (especially IT bands) and strengthening (especially the inner part of your quad) program. I was amazed how a few exercises/stretches that are pretty subtle (I was skeptical that they were doing anything at first!) can lead to a full recovery. Ping me if you want more details or need the name of a good PT.

yah, i broke my patella a few years ago, so my knees are pretty sensitive.

clearly, a surfboard or skimboard would be better because you don't ride as hard or as fast, but if you're gonna stick with a twintip, i think pad choice is pretty crucial

the LF luxury pads are probably if not the softest then one of the softest on the market. Some other brands have come out with super cush pads too, so any of those would help.

however, you might want to consider riding bindings as well...my bindings have about 2 inches of unbelievably soft cushioning...makes hard landings feel like you're riding on a pillow! plus, then you can look super hard core riding boots

oh, and I second the recommendation for a PT...i struggled with a torn rotator cuff for the second half of last season . . .i finally saw a PT about a month ago, and after being religious with my exercises...i'm healed!

Finishing my 3rd knee PT rehab inside of a year - the advice above about strengthening through PT is the key. You can do it on your own, but there are some elements of PT that aren't totally intuitive and your health care pro will emphasize how to do it right. You'll be staring at door hinges before you know it - if you don't know what the heck that means, then PT is a great start.

Also, a fun way to train/strengthen all muscles which protect the knee is the Indo Board.

Cool - Thank you everyone!!!! I just had an MRI and x-ray done on me knees today, and will be seeing the doc in a week. In the meantime I did start the exercise's (I had this problem when I was training to be a ballerina 20 years ago, went to PT then-I became pain free for normal day to day activity, but was not able do plie's without pain. So, it ended my career in ballet). I think the lesson learned for me, is that I can not not exercise, and kiteboard. If I am going to play, I have to make sure I am strong enough to play : )

Yes, on and off for fifteen years. I gave up anything involving any sort of running/jarring to the knees, and hard court sports like tennis. I also transitioned from skiing to snowboarding. I found I did not get any noticeable benefit from PT that I could not obtain by doing stretching/strengthening/yoga exercises myself, but it's worth experimenting with if only because you will learn which exercises are specific to your problem. Dropping 10lbs also made a major difference.

A surfboard (particularly polyester construction) tends to be much easier on the body overall, but if you want to stick to a twin tip go with something that has a lot of flex, some extra length, heavy concave, and nice, thick, cushy pads. The Mako 140 and 150 (aka " the Cadillac " ) really soak up the chop.